


Lightbringer

by Tatooine_is_not_far_away



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Ben Solo Deserved Better, Canon Compliant, Dark Rey (Star Wars), Dark Side Rey, Death of Younglings, Drama & Romance, Erotic and sensual smut, Eventual Romance, F/M, Force Dyad (Star Wars), Force Ghost Ben Solo, Force Ghost Shenanigans, Grief/Mourning, Mutual Pining, Post-Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Redeemed Ben Solo, Rey is struggling with her connection to the Force, Soulmates, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Fix-It, This will get dark, Title does not refer to Rey, dark themes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-12-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:54:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25692385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tatooine_is_not_far_away/pseuds/Tatooine_is_not_far_away
Summary: Following the conclusion of the events of Exegol and the death of Ben Solo, Rey is trying to come to terms with loss and grief. She sees a recurring vision that can only be the Force trying to guide her. However, she is also facing her own inner and outer demons in a treacherous path to repair a lost connection to the Force and Ben.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 14
Kudos: 20





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Since I was young, I have been told that I am okay at writing and a fairly decent storyteller. As a man, I've not had the chance to explore my literary skills, so I am taking this opportunity to see if I can explore two areas that I find fascinating: writing and Star Wars. Honestly, I would have never even attempted this if it wasn't for a girl @Ri2020.

The dark figure was borne like a jagged mountain on a small surface amidst a sea of pitch black liquid that seemed to flow endlessly with no apparent source. Rey could make out the silhouette of the familiar long hair. Even in the darkness she knew who the outline belonged to. She did not know how to reach him but she knew she had to. She called upon the very last vestige of the Force within her and leapt a great distance to where the figure was standing. However, as her eyes adjusted from the feat she had just performed, he had vanished. She stared blankly at the foreboding ocean of darkness and whispered his name.

“Ben.”

  
…

With an almighty jolt Rey arose as if she had been pulled from the very heart of the Force itself. It was the same dream that had plagued her for the months that had followed from the events of Exegol. As her eyes adjusted to the dilapidated interior of a worn-out Millennium Falcon she was welcomed by the familiar faces of her companions who had started this journey with her while she was just a scavenger girl from Jakku.

The gargantuan Wookie who had been watching Rey protectively while she slept, gave a pitiful glance and a sorrowful roar. It was as if the truncated sound captured every emotion she was feeling at that very moment.

“I know Chewie. I know,” Rey replied sluggishly.

Rey propped herself up, steadying for a moment trying to miserably hold on to the remnants of the dream. What was he trying to tell her? Of course it had felt more like a vision, but she was not so sure anymore. Why couldn’t she see his face? Nothing was clear to her. Her path seemed to diverge in plethora of directions, all dissimilar with no clear end in sight.

“Rey, how is the arm holding up?”

The voice belonged to the former Stormtrooper now hero of the Rebellion, Finn. His face was dishevelled and a worn beard had emerged. He sat clasping his knees together shivering slightly as the Falcon’s warming system was at a critically low level. Protecting the fuel reserves in the outer rim had been cumbersome for the Falcon.

Finn would follow Rey blindly but even he began to doubt the purpose of the mission. When she had told the Rebels she would be leaving on a journey to Tatooine, Finn had been the first to volunteer to come with her. Now Tatooine was a distant memory, Rey had been so distant and Chewie was not always the most talkative of companions. He silently envied and missed Poe. Poe had reluctantly refused Finn’s offer to explore the reaches of the galaxy putting correct the crimes of the First Order and Emperor Palpatine’s machinations. He was now a general within the Rebel Army. His days of adventure were over.

Rey, stared blankly at Finn and for a moment almost ignored the question entirely. She never wanted him here, it was dangerous. She had wanted to complete the journey alone, she didn’t want to be the cause of more death and destruction. A galaxy wide genocide in the name of power. Her bloodline was cursed. Rey Palpatine. She found herself toying with the name.

“The arm is fine,” Rey said vacuously.

She grabbed her arm which had been embellished with a blaster wound in a skirmish on a moon of Yavin Prime. Something that she would never have been caught with since Grandmaster Luke Skywalker’s training. However, after Ben’s death it was as if the connection to the will of the Force had left her. She could no longer call upon the mysterious source of energy as she once did. Her movements were laborious, she could not anticipate her enemies’ strategy. But equally she could not sit in taciturn ambivalence while the Galaxy still bled, a Jedi’s path was not one of immortality. But she did not feel like a Jedi, not anymore.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who read and enjoyed the last chapter. Hopefully you enjoy this one too!
> 
> Also a special thank you to @Ri2020 for commissioning this amazing piece of art by @Jenniferladybug !

Rey took her place in the forlorn cockpit still reeling from the vision of Ben. His presence was all she could envisage, the moment his mellow lips touched hers, a moment so fleeting yet it felt like it had lasted an entire lifetime. The Falcon careered through the vast swathes of empty space save for the desolate pieces of asteroid, spinning rather aimlessly without the pull of gravity. Rey lingered at the lonely rocks, it was how she felt. She was not anchored, not to the Force, not even to her companions.

The far corners of the Outer Rim lacked the bustle and pizzazz of the core worlds. Even smugglers and spice runners tended to avoid these ominous parts if they could. There was a rather superstitious belief that those who frequented the empty space of the Outer Rim would end up missing or worse. However, Rey had lived on the Outer Rim for most of her life and was accustomed to the perilous and chaotic nature. She couldn’t imagine residing in the core worlds and of course if she had not left the Resistance base, it would undoubtedly be their next checkpoint. Rey had no interest in intergalactic politics, especially not now. The battle had been won but as Master Luke or even Leia would have attested, if they were still here, the destruction of Palpatine was very much the proxy war. Despite the skirmishes with the Sith loyalists and First Order remnants, the greatest challenge was for the Resistance to consolidate their influence and become a legitimate political movement in the eyes of the Galaxy. A Republic had failed before and the inhabitants of the Galaxy were not trusting. Years of tyranny had left a sour and blameworthy taste.

Poe, Lando Calrissian and the rest of the Resistance leaders would have to act fast to ensure that the legacy of the Resistance was not one of a cacophony of rough and tumble idealists. They needed to do this before another threat could rise up and scupper their plans. Perhaps it was better Rey was not with them. If anyone was to discover who she truly was, it could endanger any hopes of repairing the destruction. The name “Palpatine” was spoken in hushed terms. It was almost as if the menacing presence that had once reigned with an iron fist was still lurking in the dark of the night. The name was synonymous with bringing fear into the hearts of many, even after his apparent demise.

“RRWWWGG!” The colossal Wookie exclaimed rather urgently.

“What is it Chewie?” Rey asked trying to mask some of the unusual disdain in her voice.

Finn, who had been loitering by the Torplex Tandem Flight Computer, leapt into action. The Falcon’s emergency warning system began squawking furiously amidst a portentous crimson light emanating from the power core that intermittently illuminated the cockpit.

Chewbacca fiddled helplessly with some of the buttons and switches before slamming his powerful paw onto the surface of the dashboard. The sound reverberated around the cockpit. The Falcon didn’t respond. _At least we know the warning system still works_ Rey thought to herself.

“REY!” Finn shouted.

Rey stared back at Finn following the familiarly irksome beckon. He seemed to mirror the Wookie’s frustrations and grew more exasperated in each passing moment. _Does he ever say my name without screaming?_ Rey wondered.

“The C-8 life support system is at a critical level. Rey, this is not looking good!”

Rey turned to the Wookie, “Chewie, do we have enough power for a hyperspace jump?”

“GGWWWRGHH,” Chewbacca replied affirmatively.

Rey swooped towards the mainframe and adjusted some of the controls. Chewbacca’s disgruntled growls failed to omit that they did have enough power for a hyperspace jump but it was not going to be able to take them far enough to any established star systems. Or so they thought.

“Damn it! There are no systems nearby”.

“We’re going to die. We’re all going to die.” Finn said flatly, “Saviours of the galaxy and this is how we go out?”

“Shut up Finn, we’re not going to die,” Rey stared with an unparalleled focus at the mainframe monitor as she noticed something small beeping on the holomap. “There. Prepare the jump”.

Finn huddled behind Rey as he too began to see the small dot grow in size. It was clearly a star system capable of life, and a tiny label.

“…Dagobah”.

…

The minuscule swamp creature squealed in terror as a carnivorous eel-like predator chased it across the marshes. The air was humid and murky. The life on the planet had spent aeons evolving to the harsh terrains. The vast trees that encapsulated and absorbed all light arched over the forest floor, they would not let anything escape. Even the plants moved as if they were part of the fauna. Poisonous gasses frequently enveloped the atmosphere and the warning was clear: do not enter.

The swamp creature leapt through long intertwining bushes until it finally arrived at a dead end. The predator licked its lips, savouring the taste of what was to come. But it never came. A huge grey dragon roared in the sky startling the predator and sending it scuttling away into the depths of a nearby lagoon. The swamp creature curiously stared up, wondering who its kind saviour was. Of course the feeling of gratitude was momentary as another flying beast swooped down and devoured the poor swamp creature in a single gulp.

…

The Falcon did not land smoothly. The ship was too large and several trees were crushed under the extreme pressure of the landing. Chewbacca’s apparent discontent emerged through several aggressive growls. Trees were sacred on his home world of Kashyyyk, and it was criminal to damage them, punishable under the Wookie legal code. Of course the code, as with most things Wookie related, was rather rudimentary.

Rey and Finn, however, did not share the same concerns. Their survival was what had mattered in the moment. Finn had been a Stormtrooper serving the First Order blindly. Stormtroopers were taught the art of combat but not survival. It was one of the reasons, despite their overwhelming numbers, they had suffered huge casualties in the war against the comparatively feeble Resistance. For Rey, years on Jakku had taught her how to be malleable and so the Dagobah terrain which was harshest for Finn would not be a problem for Rey or Chewbacca. However, Rey thought this would be a perfect time for her get some elbowroom away from the confines of the Falcon. The Falcon was not a large vessel, at least not like some of the freighters that were commonplace on the core worlds. The Falcon could host much more than three lifeforms and a droid, but perhaps Rey’s sorrow left no room for another traveler.

“Finn, stay with Chewie on the ship. I’ll see if there is anyone that can help us,” Rey ordered anticipating the barrage of protests.

“Anyone that can help us? Rey there is no way I am letting you go out there alone.”

“You are, and you will,” Rey turned away from her companion grasping her lightsaber, ensuring it was firmly placed at the hilt.

Rey marched towards the exit shaft, with Finn following hastily behind. As the shutters opened a sudden waft of the Dagobah humidity entered the ship. Rey had felt it coming but Finn had not and it sent him crashing breathlessly to his knees. Rey paused for a moment, wondering if she should help him up but Finn stared back at her with a defeated look on his face.

“I think I will stay with the ship.”

Just as Rey began to relish the thoughts of solitude a small beeping voice began to grow louder. A spherical droid skyrocketed across the metallic floor. Rey placed her hands at her hips as she looked at the droid, too tired to protest.

“Come on then BB-8.”

…

Rey was not sure how long they had been traversing the awkward topography. She had lost all concept of time in the dark stretches. She was not sure what she was looking for, or more worryingly what she would find. Subconsciously she forgot the basic principles of her Jedi training, as her lightsaber dangled carelessly by her side. Her mind was elsewhere and once more crossed to when she had stood before the Emperor. She could hear their voices, the voices of the Jedi before her. They acted as a guide, they gave her strength, but where were they now? And Ben, her thoughts of him were the most vivid. Would she eventually forget what he looked like? Would he become just a mere distant memory once the pain subsided. But Rey knew this pain was different, it was the same pain that she held on to for years when she was searching for her parents. An empty hollow void, a gap left unfilled.

Rey saw an overturned trunk which she leapt on to, showing that the Force was inconsequential in her nimbly agile movements. The vines that grew around it, however, were more problematic as she nearly lost her footing multiple times. She remembered the training with Leia. She remembered the anger and impatience she once felt while on Ajan Kloss. She was so keen to save Ben that she had left her training. Perhaps Leia would have told her how to overcome her feelings, after all that was the Jedi code, was it not?

The questions ruminated like multiple substances in a mixing pot. The Force was supposedly an omnipotent guide that tied all things together, but she felt like a chasm, a break in the chain. Her eyes welled with a mixture of sweat and tears, she had been through so much pain. She had lost everyone and everything. Perhaps she blamed the Force. Maybe it was a curse upon her family as a result of the unnatural scheming by her grandfather.

BB-8 looked at its friend and if a droid could feel a pang of empathy, perhaps it did at that moment. The droid’s multitude of data sources teaming through its tiny circuits allowed it to calculate that a quest as ambitious as theirs would be undoubtedly blighted with disaster and misery. Even a small indefensible creature wandering the swamps of a jungle planet would also tell you the same thing.

Rey disembarked from the trunk with a leap and engaged in a perfectly executed forward roll. Her eyes adjusted to reveal a cavernous entrance.

…

She felt something she had not done in a long time. She could sense an eerie darkness. _Was that the Force?_ She had experienced the same sensation on Exegol and on Pasaana when she had inadvertently believed she exploded Chewie with a lightning strike.

“BB-8, stay here,” Rey commanded as the excited droid happily obliged by completing several clockwise circles.

Her headstrong nature forced her on as she placed her hand tightly on the hilt of her lightsaber. Something was coming.

Every step she took, the call seemed to grow in strength. It was like a slow drum beat getting ever louder. The cave was pitch black. But what she heard haunted her. The sharp cackles of the dead Emperor. _Was he alive? Was this a trick of her mind?_

“Kill the girl. End the Jedi. Become what your grandfather Vader could not,” the malice swarmed the humid air.

She then heard Ben Solo’s voice.

“You don’t just have power. You have his power.”

“B-Ben?” Rey yelled into the abyss.

“I see through the cracks in your mask. You’re haunted,” this time it was her own voice but she did not speak the words. She recalled it was what she had told Ben Solo while he was still Kylo Ren. The mask was hers now, she was the one haunted.

“I’m being torn apart. I want to be free of this pain,” it was Ben’s voice again but it was as if these were Rey’s own thoughts.

“Ben, where are you?” Rey cried as she stumbled through the cave.

She lost her footing completely this time, as her entire body jolted to the floor. Her eyes were filled with tears. She stared at the hard ground where she lay. And then in that moment, silence. The voices ceased but what was left shocked her even further. His body towered over her, hand outstretched.

“Take my hand,” he spoke with a simple softness.


	3. Chapter 3

**A few years after the battle of Endor…**

Chandrila was an oasis among the core worlds. It did not have the commotion of some of the neighbouring planets. In some respects it mirrored the picturesque landscapes of the Naboo system. Luscious and behemoth forests circumvented huge mountains that lined its cities overlooking crystalline seas. The wild creatures were largely in balanced harmony with the surroundings.

After the fall of the Empire, the Rebellion’s leadership had decided that Coruscant, the capital of the Old Republic, where democracy had so poignantly fallen was no longer an appropriate home for intergalactic politics. Chandrila, in some ways was the beacon of hope that the galaxy was searching for. It had been a planet earmarked for annihilation by the Emperor with his titan of destruction known as the Death Star. So it was only apt that Princess Leia of Alderaan, a planet that had suffered the prescribed erasure, had also recommended Chandrila as a symbol of resilience to the menace that had plagued the galaxy for so long. Hanna City was the capital and it epitomised the rebirth of the galactic republic.

Politics had taken over the world and amidst it all there was a young Jedi Knight in training throwing a rock aimlessly in the grounds of the Hanna City Palace. His back reclined firmly against a replica Wroshyr tree that had been planted out of respect for the great Wookie rebel, Chewbacca. The young knight’s long hair cascaded to his shoulders. His eyes were piercing and sharp, he wore a look of experience beyond his years but also a twang of loneliness as if his innermost feelings lay festering and unspoken deep in his soul.

“Hey kid, watchu got there”.

The knight turned in candid surprise towards a weary and tired looking figure.

“Father?” The boy questioned.

“Come on kid, you know it makes me feel old when you call me that. Han, Han Solo, Han the great. Just not father,” the once smuggler-turned-saviour of the galaxy mused.

Ben Solo managed a weak but genuine smile. The last year had been turbulent to say the least. The rumblings of unhappiness with some of the outer sector worlds based on a new intergalactic trade bill that had passed caused a plethora of underhanded politics and smear tactics to come into fruition. Ben who hated politics was drawn in to the galactic media spotlight after it had been revealed he was training as part of a mystical cult that believed in strange powers.

“Why are you not still in there?” Ben pointed towards the senate building, “where is mother?”

“Hey kid what’s with all the questions? You know I hate politics. The Hutts are asking for exclusive rights to a hyperspace route. They don’t damn deserve it after the time I spent frozen in carbonite. I still can’t see fully out of my right eye,” Han rambled on pointing at his eye which seemed perfectly fine to Ben.

“Speaking of your mother, the princess, her royal highness would like to see you now,” Han said sarcastically.

…

Ben strode briskly past colossal portraits of galactic heroes in the hallway of Hanna City Palace, most of whom he did not recognise. However, he saw a few faces he did recognise, Admiral Ackbar, Obi-wan Kenobi and even Master Luke were perched majestically. There was no homage to his maternal grandfather. _Ironic_ , Ben thought considering the stories he had been told, particularly by Master Luke stating that it was in fact Anakin Skywalker who had brought balance to the galaxy by killing the Emperor, the truth could only be hidden from the galaxy for so long.

Han approached the door guarded by two no-nonsense HK-droids wielding blasters.

“Name and purpose of business?” one of the droids asked nonchalantly.

“Do I need to see a purpose to see my own wife?” Han exclaimed.

“Name and purpose of business?” The droid asked again this time slightly more aggressively inching his blaster closer to the metal chest plate.

“Han Solo and Ben Solo. Here for a damn meeting with the princess”.

The two droids stepped aside and the doors opened to unveil a circular room. Much to the dismay of the architects and much less her security detail, Leia had chosen to install a panoramic terrace that surveyed a waterfall. Leia was a princess a lifetime ago but it seemed the sophisticated elegance had not left her. Grand furnishings of antiques acquired from the stretches of the galaxy lined the room. She had been absorbed in her work but her regal beauty shone through. She wore a long white garment and her hair was tied gracefully in a manner that flowed down her shoulders. Han’s annoyance with the droids was long forgotten when he gazed upon his wife, wondering how a scoundrel like himself was married to a princess.

“Ben,” she said with outstretched arms as the young knight embraced his mother. She then held him at an arm’s distance examining every blemish on his face as a mother ought to.

“Mother, why did Luke send me away from the academy?”

Leia’s expression instantly changed as she wore an expression of concern. “It’s Master Luke, do not forget your training.”

“Master Luke,” Ben repeated slightly capriciously, “Mother why did he send me away from the academy?”

“Master Luke said that you injured another Jedi during a sparring exercise. We all feel this year has been very tough on you and you could use a break before you return to your training,” Leia said.

“Mother, he was goading me, he spoke about father being a good-for-nothing smuggler,” Ben tried to reason.

“Hey, who’s good-for nothing? Kid deserved it if you ask me,” Han chimed but silenced himself after a stern glare from Leia (albeit with a blasé shrug).

Leia placed a loving arm on her son’s shoulders. She could feel the physical growth in her son. His shoulders were broader and tougher then when she had sent him off to be trained in the ways of the Jedi with her brother. She gazed into his eyes and Ben could feel the glare piercing every fibre of his soul. It was as if at that moment his mother was reading every thought of his.

“Ben. The ways of the Jedi is not a path for everyone. Even the strongest among the Jedi have fallen prey to their whims.”

“Anakin?” Ben asked.

Leia tactically ignored Ben’s question, “we must not let the darkness in, we must not let our fears and anger rule our actions. We must not show emotion to those who try to break us. You have Skywalker blood that runs through your veins. That very blood can lead you down a path of hatred and vengeance or a path of good”.

Ben stared at his mother soaking in the lesson that had been delivered. He stared ashamedly at his feet, realising that he could have badly injured one of his fellow Jedi. He had acted rashly out of emotion and was now suffering the consequences of not being able to find the only peace he had been able to find lately which was while he was training in the ways of the force with his uncle.

“Come, take my hand,” Leia spoke with a simple softness.

…

“Take my hand,” Ben’s voice echoed in the cave.

Rey eyes were filled tears as the vision of Ben on Chandrila fluttered away from her mind. The force that had left her seemed to return itself momentarily. She had not experienced a vivid vision like this in some time. His tone sounded just like his mother’s in the palace. It was kind, not the voice of Kylo Ren, the murderer, but Ben Solo. The innocent boy who sacrificed himself for her, for the galaxy.

  
“Ben, I wish I took your hand,” Rey said with tears and emotion overflowing.

“You did take my hand. I gave my life essence to you. You will always have part of me”

“Why? Why did you save me? I should have been the one that died. My cursed family line would have ended,” Rey stood up facing the force ghost, mounting anger filled her voice.

She noticed the scar had disappeared from his face. He was peaceful, his eyes were kind. She envied the serenity he seemed to emanate. He embodied the composure of a Jedi. Something she was lacking and had been since she had lost him.

“Because you are better than me, Rey. You are the one who turned me. Do you not recall the day you healed me while I was lost? I was blind to the plots of Palpatine and it was you, you who made me see again. You were the reason I took off the mask”.

“Where have you been Ben? Your body, it disappeared on Exegol.”

“I have been watching,” Ben spoke tenderly, “you have lost your connection to the force. You have forgotten what Master Luke has taught you. You have forgotten what my mother taught you".

“Why are you back? Why now?”

“You know why,” Ben grinned at her.

Rey searched her feelings, she realised Ben was here perhaps sent by the Force, maybe it was the dyad between them, or perhaps out of his own free will. He was here to reconnect her to the Force, he was here to teach her. He was here to heal her.

“Ben, I failed. I failed in my teachings. I could not carry on the legacy of the Jedi, of the Skywalkers”.

“The Jedi were not right about everything,” Ben cogitated with an affectionate smile.

“What do you mean,” Rey asked questioning her new master.

“The code for one. My grandfather, Anakin Skywalker turned to the dark side because he was taught to fear and suppress his true emotions. This fear was not taught to him by the Sith, but it was the Jedi”.

“What fear?”

“The fear of love”.

The apparition vanished after the first lesson had been delivered and Rey was left standing with her hand outstretched into the open nothingness.


End file.
